Looking Back at 40 Years of Bucks Basketball

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When looking at the Milwaukee Bucks in both 1982 and 2022, you would notice some similarities on paper, but some drastic differences show up off of the stat sheets. The 1981-‘82 Bucks season was just about as successful as the 2021-22 slate of games. Both teams were solid contenders to bring another title to Milwaukee, with a solid core lineup. Rather than a commanding presence in the lane that Giannis Antetkounmpo provides, this version of the Milwaukee Bucks was focused on offense around point guard Sidney Moncrief, as well as current Bucks’ announcer Marques Johnson. The 2021-22 starting five for Milwaukee was also considered very strong, with a big three of Giannis, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, bolstered by fan-favorite Bobby Portis and outside shooter Grayson Allen.

The Bucks’ lone draft pick for the season was center Alton Lister, who played five seasons in Milwaukee before being traded. The team was fairly set with a deep starting lineup, which mainly consisted of Moncrief, Johnson, Bob Lanier, Quinn Buckner and Mickey Johnson. The bench was led by Junior Bridgeman, and also featured Bobby Dandridge, who was in the final year of his playing career.

The power forward spot was generally held by Mickey Johnson, a 6’10” combination forward and center out of Chicago, in his eighth season. That spot now belongs to the “Greek Freak,” a 6’11” combination forward and center, who just completed his ninth year in the league. Johnson weighed in at 190 pounds, whereas modern training has helped Giannis dominate his position with an extra 50 pounds of mass, much of that likely being muscle. Stat-wise, Antetokounmpo has already surpassed Mickey Johnson’s totals for his 12-year playing career, with no signs of slowing down.

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Coach of the Year

Coach Don Nelson was at the helm for Milwaukee, in his sixth season with the Bucks. He would follow the 1981-82 campaign by winning Coach of the Year for the first of three times in 1983 and remained with Milwaukee until 1988. Following his tenure with the Bucks, he held a successful career in front offices around the league and was ranked in the Top 15 coaches in NBA history at the league’s 75th anniversary celebrations this past season. In 2012, Nelson was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Like Nelson, current Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer was named Coach of the Year, in 2014 with Atlanta and 2018 with Milwaukee.

Coincidentally, both teams also won the Central Division title in the regular season but were bounced in the Conference semifinals to a team that would go on to represent the East in the NBA Finals. In 1981-82, Milwaukee lost to a Philadelphia 76ers team led by Julius “Dr. J” Irving and Daryl Dawkins, before Philadelphia would ultimately concede the title to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2022, Milwaukee would be eliminated in a tough series with the Boston Celtics, who were later beaten by a dominant Golden State Warriors team in the midst of a championship dynasty.

The true difference in Bucks seasons, though, is the reception within the city of Milwaukee. For the 1981-82 campaign, Milwaukee was a decade removed from their first NBA title and had lost the Conference Semifinals the previous two years. Keep in mind that when the Bucks won their first title, there wasn’t even a championship parade. Fast forward 40 years, and the story is much different. Giannis Antetokounmpo is one of the faces of the NBA, let alone the Bucks franchise, and you would be hard pressed to go out to a major event in town without seeing at least some element of Milwaukee Bucks merchandise. In four decades, the franchise has undergone massive change, and brought along the entire city for the ride.